Clash of the Social Media Titans

You get home, turn on the computer and check your e-mails. Those actions can be easily understood as global, at least in a society ruled by the Internet. But let’s consider this: what if – after turning on the computer – you first log onto Orkut? That is exactly what at least 27 million Brazilian web users do every day. 

In the tropical South American country of Brazil, social media have developed increasingly over the last few years. The most widely used social networking site? It is Orkut, hands down. If you are asking yourself what Orkut is, imagine a Brazilian asking what Facebook is.

Orkut vs. Facebook

Orkut has become a truly “social phenomenon” in Brazil ever since it was launched in the United States in 2004.

The name Orkut is derived from the Turkish Google engineer Orkut Büyükkökten, who initially developed the social networking site in order to help people around the world to connect (Orkut is much easier to spell and pronounce than Büyükkökten).

Statistics show that 73% of all Brazilian Internet users also use Orkut. Perhaps due to this awkwardly named website, people got interested in how to use a computer, gradually diminishing the digital divide in the country.

Brazilian virtual ID

Being in Orkut means having a virtual ID, at least in Brazil. Whatever you do, you post. Whatever you like and dislike, you post. Whatever you think, you post. It is as if your entire virtual existence depended on Orkut.

But because of all the time spent in front of the computer updating the profile, adding pictures, sending comments, finding old and new friends, or just spying out somebody else’s profile, many schools, universities and companies blocked access to it.

Those who can still access the Google-hosted social networking site from the office are the journalists. They see Orkut as an important tool for digging up stories and to getting information from sources.

A clash of titans

Although Orkut rules in Brazil, Facebook is pushing its way up to the throne. According to Inside Facebook, 463,000 new Brazilians registered on Facebook as of April 2010, an increase of 14,7% over the month before. That brought the total up to 3,6 million accounts – a considerable number that pales when compared to the number of Brazilian Orkut accounts: 26,9 million.

In December 2009, Orkut Demographics presented the user traffic numbers: 51% of users are based in Brazil, 20% in India, and 17% in the United States. Those numbers prompted Google to change Orkut’s base from California to Belo Horizonte (Brazil).

As for me myself, I do have accounts in both Orkut and Facebook, but find myself using Orkut most of the time. I guess old habits do die hard. By the way, do I know you from somewhere? Your profile looks familiar. Maybe from Orkut?

Rodrigo Rodembusch is a student of the International Media Studies Program, a joint effort by Deutsche Welle, The Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and The University of Bonn. The 35-year-old worked in radio in his home country of Brazil before seeking new challenges abroad.